A Chance Encounter
by The Almighty Leprechaun
Summary: The first time Wally West ran into Artemis Crock she shot him in the shoulder. The second time she broke his nose. But there's something about the snarky criminal that he just can forget. Tigress/Flash Spitfire AU.


**Hey guys here's another installment of the AU I was working on. This one happens before That Girl Your Mother Warned You About and Some Things are Better Left Broken. For those of you who are new you don't have to read those to understand what's going on. I would like to thank all of my reviewers and supporters. Just to let you guys know I now have a tumblr and I'm going to start posting drabbles there.**

**I don't own the characters.**

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It was on a rather cold night when Tigress found herself dangling from a wire above an impossible barrier of lasers and motion sensors. Her target—a black aluminum briefcase—rested inside a glass case that stood in the center of the heavily guarded vault.

Steel blue eyes studied the predicament carefully, calculating the perfect path. Artemis had no room for error. An uneasy feeling boiled in her stomach. She checked her watch and frowned. The security cameras would be operational in twenty minutes- leaving her just fifteen minutes to grab the case and disappear.

After scanning the room once more the blonde lowered herself onto one of the filing cabinets that lined the wall. There was a slight clang, nothing that would alert the many security guards that patrolled the building, but it startled the criminal. Within a minute she was out of her harness and onto the floor. Her tall frame skillfully weaved in and out of the deadly beams. She furrowed her brow in concentration as she silently progressed towards the glass container.

When Tigress arrived to her destination eight minutes remained on the clock. She wasted no time, efficiently cutting a hole in the thick glass. The blonde easily defused the pressure sensor with the circle of glass and grabbed the heavy metal case.

Artemis checked her watch a third time before she tucked the briefcase to her chest. The path back to the filing cabinet proved to be more difficult, but the blonde made back with a minute to spare. She quickly hooked back into the harness and glanced back at the vault to make sure she didn't miss anything. The criminal swiftly slipped through the air vents and onto the roof. The chill of the December evening swept over the woman as she looked around the roof of the seven-story building. Tigress checked her watch for the final time and took off into the night.

Adrenaline raced through her body as she darted across the Keystone skyline. The heavy case hindered her movements, but Artemis refused to stop until the building shrank into the distance. She slowed to a halt and took a moment to catch her breath before skirting down a rickety fire escape. Tigress hit the ground running and dashed into a nearby alley. Relief finally came to the woman and she allowed herself a small smile.

It had been a while since she'd last completed a heist. She had a wide range of skills that were treasured in her field, but her reputation was built on the fact that she could make almost anyone disappear permanently.

Tigress glanced over her shoulder and continued walking. She was about four blocks away from the drop spot when she felt a cold blast of air whip past her.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I'm going to have to ask you to drop the brief case." A vaguely familiar voice called from behind her.

It only took a moment for her to remember whom the voice belonged to. It'd been years since she encountered the bothersome speedster. Actually, she'd only met him once. It was on one of missions she went on back when she worked with the shadows when she still was Artemis. A scowl formed on the criminal's face, she wanted nothing to do with Kid Flash tonight, or any night for that matter. Though when she turned to face her adversary she was met with a surprise. Actually, she didn't even recognize him.

The speedster was much taller than the last time they encountered each other. His lanky limbs were now muscular and his scarlet spandex fit his lean frame like a second skin. For some reason she immediately felt drawn to the hero.

"Afraid I can't," She replied.

A small self-righteous smirk formed on his freckled face. "Lady, just hand over the case. I _know_ it's not yours."

"And what makes you think that?" Artemis inquired. "Do you have any evidence? Any proof?"

"No. _But_—" He began.

"But nothing Mister." Tigress cut him off. "Unless you have hard evidence that this briefcase isn't mine then you can't stop me."

Flash folded his muscular, scarlet clad arms across his chest and gave her an incredulous look. "Fine. If that _is_ your briefcase then what's in it?"

Honestly, Artemis had no clue what was inside the heavy metal case. She never asked and she never looked. It was her number one rule that provided her some protection. She picked up packages, delivered them, took care of any dirty work involved with said dealings, but she _never_ looked.

"Well that's none of your business," She sniffed_. It was none of her business_. "It's been a nice chat Flash but I have places to be." Tigress pivoted on her heel and began walking the other way.

The brief, familiar gust of cold air hit the criminal again and she saw the scarlet hero blocking her path. Artemis swore under her breath and glared at him. She really did not need this right now. Her client would not be pleased with her tardiness.

"You're not going anywhere, Miss." He decreed.

The blonde frowned. "The name's Tigress. And it would be in your best interest to move out of the way _right now_." Artemis grabbed her crossbow off her hip and pointed it at the speedster.

Flash brushed off the threat. "I'm sorry but I'm not moving without the case."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." The criminal's eyes flashed dangerously. She fired twice but didn't manage to hit the speedster.

"Nice shot!" A wide, boastful smile spread across the hero's face after he danced out to the way. "But you're gonna have to move faster than that to hit me Missy."

"Are you sure about that Kid Idiot?" Artemis countered before landing a powerful roundhouse kick in Flash's side that nearly knocked him over.

"_Wait a second._ I remember you. You're that archer chick that put an arrow through my shoulder," He frowned.

"Too bad I missed." The blonde woman retorted. A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. There was a playful yet threatening edge to her voice. She and Flash were now circling each other. The metal case made hand-to-hand combat more difficult for the criminal.

"Is it Athena or Aphrodite?" He wondered out loud, finally sending the impatient Tigress over the edge.

"_It's Artemis._" She corrected and swung the heavy briefcase with all her might at the speedster. There was a sickening crunch as the aluminum connected with Flash's nose. The incapacitated hero smacked down on the gravely pavement with a groan. Once she was sure he was down for the count Artemis ran off into the night.

As the criminal dashed to her destination she couldn't shake this odd feeling that overcame her after she struck the scarlet idiot down. It felt like nothing she had ever felt before. It was if her heart burst in her chest, but still remained whole. There was something special about that speedster. Artemis didn't know what it was, but she sure was going to find out.

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"What kind of wall did you run into?" Nightwing laughed after he got a good look of his friend. The tall acrobat stood out against the bright white walls that lined the Watchtower medical wing.

"Oh it's not that bad. It's just a broken nose." The speedster frowned, lifted the icepack off his black and blue face as if to prove a point and shrugged. "I've had worse."

Dick let out a cackle, "I dunno Wally, your face looks pretty messed up."

"I'm still prettier than you," the hero sniffed playfully. Wally did his best to fight the smile that spread across his sore face.

"Who needs beauty anyway? No girl can resist my charm." The young detective shot back.

The redhead laughed and shifted his icepack again so he could get a better look at his best friend. "Charm? _You_? Please Dick, how many girlfriends have you even been through the past six months?"

A wide grin split across Nightwing's masked face and he continued the playful banter. "You know what the real question is how many girlfriends you've even had the past six months."

"Girls, girls you're both pretty." Zatanna interrupted while she strolled into the room. Both men sent her glares, but she could see the playfulness dancing in their eyes.

"What are you doing here Zee? I thought you were on monitor duty." The acrobat asked.

The young woman twirled her top hat around on the tip of her wand and looked slightly bored. "Canary sent me down here to escort Flash home. She said something about a concussion and that she didn't want him to get hurt again."

"Hey! It's just a small concussion. I can take care of myself." Wally cried indignantly, though his complaints fell on deaf ears as the two raven haired vigilantes continued on talking.

"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure he gets home safe and sound." Nightwing offered the magician. She smiled and nodded.

"Thanks." Zatanna replied and left without another word.

"So which one of your local baddies got the lucky shot?" Dick inquired casually. The two men were currently making their way down to the zeta tubes.

"Actually it wasn't." Wally replied. His face remained indifferent, but the acrobat knew something was up.

"Someone new?" Dick raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." The speedster ran his fingers through his unruly orange hair. "Remember that mission we went on with the team?"

"Which one? We went on a lot of missions with the team."

"The one when we were ambushed by the shadows." Wally clarified.

Nightwing's eyes lit up. "That one when the archer chick shot you through the shoulder? What about it?"

"Well I ran into her tonight." The redhead's hand came up and gently brushed his broken nose. "She's now calling herself Tigress."

"So she's the one who knocked you out?" Dick bit back a laugh. "What was she even doing in your neck of the woods?"

"I don't know. I saw her when I was on my late night patrol. She had this metal briefcase that looked suspicious." He began to explain. "So I confronted her and it didn't go too well."

Nightwing chuckled, "I can tell."

"Hey! It was one lucky shot." Wally defended. "It _won't_ happen again."

If only he hadn't been so distracted things might've been different. It was so strange that he never even saw coming. There was something about Tigress that made him feel so strange inside. He couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful woman.

Dick watched carefully as his friend grew silent. He knew there was much more to what Wally told him. Something was bothering the speedster, but he let it be for now. He knew the speedster would tell him when he was ready. Though, the young detective knew he had a full night of research ahead of him. Just who was this mysterious Tigress?

The two heroes remained quiet on the rest of the venture to the speedster's humble apartment. Nightwing yawned his farewell and headed back towards the zeta tube. Wally crashed down on his bed and closed his tired eyes, but sleep did not come.

His mind was racing with questions. His conversation with Tigress played over and over again in his head like a movie. There were so many things he wanted to know about the mysterious woman that shot him in the shoulder those many years ago. He wanted to see her, hear her, argue with her again. In those ten minutes in that alley with her Wally had never felt more alive. His lonely heart longed for more of the alluring woman.

Maybe it was just the concussion, but the speedster was sure he was feeling something for this Artemis or Tigress or whatever she called herself. Or maybe he was just delusional. The speedster chose to reserve his final judgment for morning and drifted off into a restless slumber.

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**This was one of the more frustrating stories to write. It's been hanging around in my files for weeks and has caused me more than enough trouble. I really hope you liked it. If you're wanting more there's two more oneshots I've written for this AU. And if you'd like to see more or have questions about anything you can drop them in my ask box on tumblr and I'd be more than happy to answer any of them. I'm also considering taking AU requests for drabbles on tumblr too. The link to my tumblr is on my profile. Reviews are more than welcome and highly appreciated. Thanks for reading. **


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